The month that sees the longest day and the official beginning of summer was not always summer like. In June Muskegon had temperatures that were 1.2° below normal. The lowest mark was 43° on the 5th of the month. The highest was 89° on the 14th. The 1.2 below normal average temperature was almost identical to June of 2000. when temperatures were 1.1 degrees below the norm.

Despite the overall temperature tenancy June did have several periods of summer like weather. From the 10th to the 14th temperatures were above normal. Again from the 26th to the 30th temperatures were boosted with highs in the 80's.

Many of these hot days also brought below normal winds (5 of the 10 days had below average winds). For the month the wind in Muskegon averaged 7.63 knots below the typical 8.1 knots. The least windy day of the month was the 28th at 3.4 knots. This day the Tripp Cup fleet straggled into Milwaukee courtesy of the low winds. The windiest day was the 18th with 15.9 knot average winds.

Precipitation wise June was a near normal month. 2.4 inches fell just .05 more than normal. The 12th was the big rain day with .65 inches falling.

This rain helped Lake Michigan to continue it's rise. Long term outlooks show only another inch or two of water level gain before the lake begins to decline later in July.

The wind direction for the month of June was very one sided. Only 4 days did Muskegon record North or east winds for the day. The two most common directions were SSW which gave 4 days of above normal temperatures and WNW which gave 4 out of its 5 days cool temperatures. For the upcoming Chicago to Mackinac race which is sailed south to north this trend indicates a typical friendly downwind ride.

At the calendars half way point 2001 in Muskegon has seen temperatures 2.2° above normal. This compares to 2.5° above normal through June in 2000. For the year in 2000 temperatures ended up 1.1 degrees above normal. We'll see if we experience a heat wave or a cooling trend in the second half of the year.